Daily Archives: April 11, 2015

This sight was simply jarring to me. There was a visceral reaction that went through me when my eyes set on this part of a wall. I can’t even recall where I was when I saw this, but I can remember my exact mild shock and breath holding and complete perplexity as I tried to figure out why this was there and what was the meaning behind it.

If any of the readers know, I’d really appreciate knowing more.

Jeweled St. James

In the Cathedral in Santiago are many statues of St. James. When looking at the altar one can see the very large ornate gold statue of St. James.

It’s a pilgrim tradition to climb up the stairs into the camarín or tiny room behind the altar that houses a medieval statue of St. James…and then give that statue a hug. I named it the jeweled St. James, a beautiful piece of Baroque art and offers a unique perspective of the cathedral.

Here you see it from the back, and to show you the intricate works of this piece, I include a picture that is the only one in my blogs that I did not take myself. I wanted you to see it in all its splendor.

St James

My last photo of this entry is titled “joy” and let me tell you, this is how I felt most of the time during my Camino journeys. This photo was taken on my first walk day, in Burgos, during my first Camino in 2011.

joy

I remember waking up that morning, and being so excited to start my walking journey. I met two women as I walked out of of my little hotel room (I arrived too late to stay in any albergues) and we all recognized ourselves as pilgrims with our backpacks, our boots and our smiles!

I offered to take a picture of them together, and they returned the favor. They laughed as they saw my reaction when I ran away from them, turned around and headed back towards them, hands in the air and saying “I can’t believe I’m actually here!”. That joy still remains in my heart, and likely, always will.

Cheers from my virtual Camino tour!

Cheers from my virtual Camino tour!

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